My Trip to Barcelona

To commemorate my last exam during my year abroad at the Glasgow University, I purchased myself to eight nights in Spain (Barcelona and Madrid, to be specific). I travelled by myself, which I was a wee bit worried about — I worried about security, comprehending Catalan and also being lonely. Those happened to be viable issues, however it all happened to be okay, and it aided me feel a good deal more confident about traveling by myself in the future.

Barcelona

I flew on Ryanair (a super-discount airline) from Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport to Barcelona — despite the fact that in classic Ryanair fashion we ended up in a secondary airport over an hour’s bus ride away from the city. I was staying at the Gothic Point hostel, which I eventually found after heading the wrong way through Barcelona’s Gothic neighborhood and running into the cathedral — a pleasant surprise. It was lovely, dark and complex, and regrettably surrounded with building work. Ah, well. After walking through the nave I headed back outside and eventually came across the hostel, which offered free Internet! I was quite impressed (though understandably there was a bit of delay to use the computers). I used this time to research Barcelona travel information.

I started my first full day of sightseeing at Park Guell, built by Barcelona’s celebrated architect Antoni Gaudi. I took the metro to what seemed to be the closest stop, but it was still a bit of a lengthy, walk to get there. My next stop was Passeig de Gracia, where there were several more famous Gaudi creations. Casa Batllo was too cool for me to adequately describe (and also too dear for me to enter!). Just down the road was La Pedrera, an apartment building with many curves, wavy lines, bright colors, oddly shaped windows, etc. After that I continued along the Gaudi trail to la Sagrada Familia, an massive church whose development has been in progress since about 1883 — and it’s only a little over halfway done. Incredible. I primarily felt a bit ripped off when I needed to pay eight euros to get in and then another two euros just to ride up one of its towers, but then I realised it was helping to maintain the building work. Maybe I’ll return to Barcelona in 30 years or so and see it when it’s complete!

After that I went to Placa Catalunya, where I strolled down La Rambla, Barcelona’s most famous street. Lined with trees and shops and street performers of all types, it was fun and crowded. La Rambla continues down to the statue of Christopher Columbus and the Port Vell, where I sat and chilled out for a while. Then I went back through Barri Gotic toward my hostel, stopping in a few pretty squares — particularly Placa Reial, with palm trees and lovely historic buildings. I also popped into the cathedral. Barrio Gotico is a lovely area to get lost, with narrow streets, flowered balconies, wrought-iron railings and traditional street lamps.

The next day I decided to visit Mont Juic, where the Olympic Village from the 1992 summer games is located, along with some countryside, a rather average castle/fortress, and Poble Espanyol, a model Spanish town that had some really pretty buildings and lots of artisan crafts.

I made a pit stop at my hostel to grab an umbrella, despite the fact that by that time it was sunny again, of course. Then I went on to the Picasso Museum, which wasn’t as exciting as I’d hoped. A lot of the things there were very early work. The same can´t be said for the Erotic Museum, which I visited next! Highlights included a six- or seven-foot wooden phallus, some truly mind boggling S&M photos, erotic cards, etc. It was pretty awesome. I left the museum and walked along the port on my way to Parc de Ciutadella, with its enormous fountain in the centre. I snapped a quick pic of Barcelona’s version of the Arc de Triomphe before heading back to the hostel to research information about Barcelona airport transportation.

The proceeding morning was passed with my journey to Madrid on Spanair (which in the end was quicker and not much much costlier than travelling by train). It was one of the least tranquil journeys I have ever been on; there was a grouping of rowdy males somewhere towards the back of the plane who clapped as soon as the plane landed.